


How Wrong You Are

by tackypanda



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen, dwarven pride, the egg gets owned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-06 11:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3132599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tackypanda/pseuds/tackypanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inquisitor Cadash isn’t happy with Solas’s dismal opinion of dwarves. She lets him know just what she thinks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Wrong You Are

_"Dwarves are... practical. They do not dream. They cannot even imagine a world beyond the physical."_

_"You truly are content to sit in the sun, never wondering what you could have been. Never fighting back."_

_"Dwarves are the severed arm of a once mighty hero, lying in a pool of blood, undirected. Whatever skill at arm it had, gone forever. Although it might twitch to give the appearance of life, it will never dream."_

The words circled Leda's brain incessantly, practically imprisoning it and putting a vice grip on her thought process. In her frustration, she threw the book she'd been carrying at the wall, only for it to fall down the stairs leading up to her chambers. It was old, and the impact probably lodged a good amount of pages from its binding. Solas would be upset over how she handled it, not that she particularly cared at the moment.

She had been generous, really, in ignoring a lot of the truly  _awful_  things he not only said about other races, but hers. She reasoned it was because she never felt much like an actual dwarf, what with not only being a surfacer, but her parents never taught her beyond the very basics of their culture and history. But what gave him the right? His experiences, travels,  _journeys into the Fade_  that he thought made his knowledge of everything and everyone correct and undoubtedly  _superior_? No matter her own personal feelings, dwarves were her people, and she'd be damned if she let him - someone whose opinions she respected all too damn much - think they were completely irredeemable.

Without putting any thought into it, she marched out of her quarters, feet pounding against the ground so hard the scaffolding quaked. She found him sitting cross-legged on the floor in his den, eyes closed,  _peaceful_. She instantly scowled, and instead of gently squeezing his shoulder or calling for him like she might have under normal circumstances, she grabbed two books off his table and feverishly banged them together as loudly as she could. "Rise and shine, no Fade-walking for you today!" She yelled, trying not to choke on the cloud of dust she was making. He grimaced and slowly opened his eyes, his expression quickly shifting to that of horror when he saw her.

"What are you  _doing_?" He all but leaped up and seized the books from her grasp. "These are not toys or instruments - or  _what ever_ you were using them for." He scrutinized them for any damage.

"Yeah, you'd like me to stop, wouldn't you?" She put her hands on her hips and furrowed her brow. He set the books back on the desk, satisfied that she had barely done any damage, then looked at her with a raised brow.

"Have I done something to offend?" He still sounded angry, if a bit confused now. "I would prefer you come out with what's bothering you than drop hints and play games - with valuable,  _fragile_ tomes might I add."

"Okay, I get it, I'm sorry." She huffed, running a hand over her face. "I'm just-- I have some things I gotta say. Can you sit?" He looked at her for a moment, then nodded and sat on the couch. "And you can't say anything 'til I'm done. I know you like to debate and all but that isn't what this is. This is me saying my piece, and you listening." She expected him to protest, but it seemed he was already complying with her request, waiting expectantly.

"First off, don't think that anything I'm saying means I don't respect you, 'cause I do, you know that. But you... you can be such a giant  _ass_." His brows shot up at that. "Maybe that was the wrong word, but  _dammit_. You know so much, a lot of it's right, but then everything else is so... backwards. Now, I don't really know that much about my people, and it's not like I'm super passionate about being a dwarf either. But a  _severed arm_ , Solas? You think of us a sodding arm that somebody lost? You don't think there's something really screwed up about that? What am I saying, of course you don't - it's  _your_  opinion.

"What makes you think you know more about dwarves than dwarves themselves? I mean yeah, ruins tell you about history and what people were like at  _that_  time, but you haven't looked beyond that, have you? You just see us as people who used to have an empire, and since we don't anymore, we're not even worth your time."

She couldn't really discern the expression on his face, but she hoped it meant he was fighting not to show how ashamed he was. She doubted he would give her the satisfaction, though. "It is not that simple--"

"Oh, but I think it is. You're always going on about how everything is more complex than it seems, but you're not willing to afford us even that much. You just shut us down. Fine, we're cut off from magic, and that's your bread and butter, so you think that makes you better than us, I get it. But I don't, because that's  _stupid_. But since  _I_  can dream, since  _I've_  got magic, I'm just so sodding fascinating and alright by you, right? Tell me honestly - would you ever have given me the time of day if I didn't have the Anchor? What about Varric, what if you two hadn't been forced together?" He looked away from her, about to open his mouth. "No, I don't wanna hear it." She took a deep breath, trying to stop herself from tearing up. "Isn't that enough to make you think  _maybe_  you're wrong?

"You say dwarves don't have imagination - have you even taken a  _glance_  at one of Varric's books? Sure, they don't take place in some mystical fantasy world like you'd prefer, but they're enough to take you away to somewhere else that's just as interesting. What about Dagna, huh? She's devoted her entire  _life_  to making as close to magic as she can. And you think the Hero of Ferelden was practical? She wouldn't have been able to do all she did if that were the case. You might think we're the exceptions, but I really doubt that's so. I mean, we've  _invented_  things now necessary for the world as we know it to function. Our trade language became the common tongue; that was  _us_! ...Shit, we run the most successful and wide-reaching criminal operation in all of Thedas, you don't think that takes imagination? How could you possibly think that all we do is sit around and lament our old glory when all of that's true? Fine, our caste system's screwed, opportunities are limited for us, and most of us  _are_ pretty difficult but I'll tell you, it's from dealing with opinions like yours  _all the time_. Elves are oppressed, qunari are demonized, but we're  _ignored_. Of course I wouldn't trade that for anyone else's lot, but do you know how it feels to be overlooked as an entire race? To have our potential just be  _dismissed_?"

She leaned against his desk, rubbing at her eyes. "I'd keep going, but I don't have any more actual facts to share, and I think I'll actually do my part to find out more when I have the time - if only to spite you." She managed a small smile at that. "But don't judge us based on what you think you know, dammit, because if you really knew what we're like - if you just want to stick to your 'everything is complex and you shouldn't make any snap judgments at face value' thing that you boast about - you wouldn't think we were so simple. And this is coming from someone whose experiences with her people have been pretty much all bad. After you've spent some actual time around dwarves, think what ever you want - but give us a sodding  _chance_. And don't compare us to cut-off body parts ever again, that's just rude." She slumped over, letting out a long sigh. "Okay. You can think about all that, and I'm gonna go nap 'cause that took a lot out of me."

She marched out just as purposefully as she had entered, although her gait was slowed by exhaustion and the fear that nothing she said got through to him.

Hours later, she woke up on her couch as Solas gently shook her shoulder. "I was having a good dream for once." She stretched her arms over her head. "You were begging for my forgiveness."

He gave her a small smirk, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. "You... you made many valid points."

"Is that all they were?" She frowned and rolled off the couch, hopping up and going over to her bed, avoiding looking at him.

"I was frustrated at first, admittedly." Leda scoffed. "Indeed, I have been closed-minded in my opinion of your people; betrayed my own mentality, as it were." The smirk stayed this time.

She blinked and turned to him. "That was easier than I thought it would be. You're not just saying that, right? Not that you're the sort, but I did almost cry on you."

"I am not unreasonable. I am willing to admit I'm wrong when a compelling argument has been made. Clearly you're more passionate about your people than you think."

"Eh, I can defend 'em when it's called for, I guess."

"There is no arguing that you are an exception, simply by virtue of your abilities. But..." He struggled with himself, "If other dwarves I encounter are anything like our companions, like  _you_ , I am willing to rethink my stance entirely."

She ducked her head as she grinned. "Now you're just trying to suck up." She grabbed his arms and backed him over to the staircase. "Now go back to your room and think about it some more, I'm still a bit upset."

He chuckled. " _Stone_  forbid I incur any more of your wrath."

"Ohoho, look at you being funny." She gently nudged him down a few steps and watched as he left, then took a seat at the top of the stairs and held her head in her hands. Perhaps she was cut out for leadership if she was so easily able to sway him. She hoped not.


End file.
